Finding Inspiration for a New Painting

Welcome.  I am so glad that you stopped by.  My garden gate is always open  for you to come in and sit and relax while I share with you the inspiration for a new painting.  The heat finally hit the coastal areas of Southern California and it is just too hot to share my morning tea with you.  This morning I froze organic raspberries in ice cube trays to drop into a glass of water and  made refreshing raspberry water to offer you.

Today we are going to leave my garden and I am going to take you with me to Cannery Paints, the art studio located in the historic section of Newport Beach, where I paint on Mondays with the "Monday Girls".
I shared a post a few weeks ago about an art show at Cannery Paints.

I am painting  something for my living room and want it to have a seaside cottage garden feel with all of my favorite flowers - Sunflowers, Hydrangeas, Geraniums,  books, sea shells, blue and white china and flags.

                               I like to gather inspiration from items around my house and garden:

I put some of my favorite things around my house together to get an idea of how they would look in a new painting.

Cannery paints is located two blocks from the beautiful Newport bay and I love to paint the bay in the background of my "seaside cottage garden paintings."

I did not like the way the red boat sitting on top of books looked and decided to paint it out.

I decided to try adding a basket with white Geraniums and two little flags. . . let's see how that works!!

I also added two Sunflowers  and still need to make a few changes to the starfish as they are  reading as the same color as the clay flower pots.  That will have to come later as it is late and  my paints are drying out and I need to go home to feed Benley, my Sudio Assistant.

Thank you for stopping by.  I sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, e-mails and those who follow my blog.  Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week.  Blessings, Erin

" Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  Hebrews 11:1

Painting Blue Hydrangeas

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by.  My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea early in the morning when the air is bright and fresh and still cool from the night time ocean breezes. Most of Southern California is sweltering, however, we are still  staying  fairly cool near the coast  compared to the high temperatures inland.  I can tell that Summer is starting to wind down when it is time to pick the last of the Hydrangeas to dry to use in Fall arrangements.

Let's join Bentley, my helpful Studio Assistant, in the garden to see what is ready to cut and then find something to paint.

The Delphiniums are fading and it is time to pick the last of them. I love the blue and purple color of them and they are one one my favorite cottage garden flowers.  These are the pale washed out blue Hydrangeas.

                                            These are the brighter blue ones!  The difference in colors of the flowers on the same bush is amazing.

This year some of my hydrangeas were  a lovely blue and some of them  a more washed out pale blue - it
is hard to get them the right color. When I add the acid early in the year before they bloom - I never know what color they will be until they bloom -  some turn out dark and some turn out light!!!

My vintage blue Rocket bicycle is the inspiration for lots of my bicycle paintings - you have probably seen it many times and I hope you are not getting tired of it.  I  decided to paint it with  some of the hydrangea blossoms in the basket.  I put 3 coats of vanish on the little bicycle paintings so I can  hang  them outside in the garden.

I always take lots of photographs so I can use them for reference after the real flowers in the garden are gone during the Fall and Winter months.  I love the classic look of blue and white china and decided to paint the blue Hydrangeas in a blue and white vase.  Blue and white china has become a signature for me and is found  in most of my larger paintings.

"Art In The Garden"

Dear Readers,  Thank you for stopping by.  I sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those of you who follow my blog. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special. 

Due to the numerous requests I receive regarding purchasing the small original art  I usually blog about I made the decision to sell only small art in my ETSY shop - all art is an original and will be $45.00 or less and vary in size from 9x9. 8x10 or 8x8 or smaller.  I want to keep the shipping price to a maximum of $10.95 and will ship via US Post Office.  I will be on a blog break until August 24th so I can work on my ETSY shop.  My ETSY shop can be reached by clicking on the photo of any painting on the right side of my blog under MY ETSY SHOP.

                      My large paintings can be found at the Heart of The Island Gallery on Balboa Island.

                                              Have a lovely week.  Blessings, Erin

"The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places . . . and you shall be like a watered garden . . . whose waters never fail."  Isaiah 58:11

Cannery Paints Art Show and Market Day

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by.  Bentley, My Studio Assistant and his his friend Oliver, the Studio Assistant at Cannery Paints  invite  you  to stroll through Cannery Village with us to visit the Cannery Painters art show and market day. Cannery Paints, home of the Cannery Painters, is located in the charming historic section of Newport Beach, Ca. known as The Cannery Village.  Located just a few blocks north of the old Cannery Building ( a working fish canning business for years located on the Newport Bay) and now a fabulous restaurant on the bay.

Oliver

I got my start as an artist painting at Cannery Paints about 15 years ago and I am happy to still be one of "The Cannery Painters. I  paint there as often as I can when not painting in my garden or on location.  Marilyn Poliquin, Proprietor and Artist in Residence, is a fabulous artist who teaches and nurtures a diverse group of artists whose paintings are as charming and diverse as the village in which they paint.

Imagine visiting a European Market Day where artists fill the street with paintings, antiques and entertainment.  That is exactly what you will find in Cannery Village on European Market Day. 

The charming and colorful dogs are by fabulous artist Stephanie Godbey who runs the Godbey School of Art.  You can see more of her amazing art and learn about her art school at www.stephaniegodbey.com

Let's take a look inside The South of France Gallery

Artist Wendy Johnson is the Proprietor and Artist in Residence at the South of France Gallery. You can see more of her beautiful art at www.thewendyjohnson.com.

Now we are back outside strolling through more Canery Painters art work.

The above paintings were done by fabulous artist Patricia Graham.

The above paintings were done by fabulous artist Deborah Harold and you can see more of her beautiful work at www.deborahharold.com

The above paintings were painted by the fabulous Dana Cooper.  She also teaches art at Cannery Paints on Fridays.  You can see more of her beautiful art at www.danacooperfineart.blogspot.com.

The above art was painted by fabulous artist Debbie Harold.

Beautiful handcrafted jewlery by Lucy Arnold - www.alalucy.com.

The beautiful paintings of succulents were painted by artist Barbara Baumgartner - you can see more of her beautiful art at www.barbarabaumgartner.com

Now let's go inside the studio to look at more beautiful art.  The lovely art hanging on the wall is Marilyn Poliquin's.

This fabulous painting was painted by Marilyn Poliquin.  She just started a blog and you can see more of her lovely paintings at www.marilynpoliquinsart.blogspot.com.

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Chocolate sauce in charming containers made by well known chief and artist, Mila Payne.  She shares her delicious recipes on Rogers Garden's blog and can be found at www.rogersgardens.com.

Looks like Oliver is worn out from our tour of the Cannery Painters Art Show and Market Day.  We hope you enjoyed the show. I was not able to give you names of all of the artists who participated.  If you see something you like please contact Marilyn Poliquin at 949 675-0851 and she can put you in touch with the artists.

Thank you for stopping by.  I love hearing from you and cherish your comments,e-mails and those who follow my blog.  Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.  I did not participate in the show this time as I am recovering from foot surgery and was not able to be on my feet all day - just long enough to take some photos to share with you.  I should be back to painting next week and will share more of my own art with you.

Have a lovely week.  Blessings, Erin

This post is dedicated to Jack,  friend of Oliver and Bentley, and beloved Studio Assistant of Wendy Johnson of the South of France Gallery and loved by all of the Cannery Painters.  Jack  was the inspiration for me to adopt Bentley - they are both Wheaten Terriers and was on  Bentley and Oliver's tour of Cannery Paints in spirit.

" The Lord is My strength". Psalm 28:7